Recently on Lawfare

The deadly bombing in Yemen fits a pattern of carelessness in the Saudi air campaign, Turkey threatens to find new partners after U.S. imposes sanctions, and Iraq finalizes its election recount but is still negotiating a governing coalition.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a motion for an initial en banc hearing in Qassim v. Trump. Judge David Tatel issued an extended dissent, questioning the Circuit Court’s adherence to habeas precedent. The full order, with Judge Tatel’s dissent, is below.

Canada and Saudi Arabia have been at loggerheads over the past week ever since the Canadian Foreign Minister condemned Saudi Arabia’s arrest of Samar Badawi, a human rights activist. Saudi Arabia's reactions were extreme, including expelling the Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, halting trade negotiations and the pulling of the Saudi Arabian ambassador for diplomatic consultation.

On Monday, Judge Dabney Friedrich of the the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against a motion challenging the constitutionality of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment. The full order is below:

There’s a new twist in one of the stranger subplots of L’Affaire Russe: Buzzfeed News reports that Peter Smith, a Republican operative who reportedly sought to obtain missing Hillary Clinton emails during the 2016 presidential campaign, made several suspicious withdrawals from bank accounts during the timeframe of his quest for Clinton’s emails—suggesting that he may have paid people he believed were Russian hackers.

Prosecutors in the Manafort trial are expected to rest their case today, according to the Associated Press. The trial enters its ninth day on Friday. So far, the prosecution has called over 20 witnesses, including Rick Gates—Manafort’s deputy in the Trump presidential campaign—and Heather Washkuhn—Manafort’s bookkeeper—and submitted over 500 pieces of evidence. Prosecutors have also contended with multiple scoldings from Judge T.S.